Editing Taranaki (section)

== Public Safety ==
Taranaki has 20 fire stations scattered throughout the region. It includes one career (full time) brigade based at New Plymouth Central Fire Station and is staffed by two crews (8 firefighters) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and responds, not only to the city, but to surrounding volunteer brigades in satellite towns if needed. New Plymouth has four fire appliances, including an aerial appliance and pump rescue truck, and three specialist vehicles. There are 17 volunteer and two rural brigades in the region.

Taranaki Base Hospital in New Plymouth is the region's largest hospital. It has a 24-hour emergency department, wards for older people's health, rehabilitation, children and young people/pediatrics, general surgery and urology, orthopedics and surgical specialties, general medicine and maternity and provides community services. It's currently undergoing a multi-million dollar development to expand its services.
Hawera Hospital, one hour south, is a smaller hospital but offers 24-hour emergency department, inpatient beds, maternity services, outpatients and community services. 
There are health centres in [[Waitara, New Zealand|Waitara]], [[Opunake]], [[Patea]], [[Mokau]], [[Stratford, New Zealand|Stratford]] and [[Urenui]].

[[St John New Zealand|St John Ambulance]] supplies all ambulance services to Taranaki, with their main station based Waiwhakaiho on the outskirts of New Plymouth. Throughout the region, they have six emergency ambulances, two rapid response vehicles (one crewed by a critical care paramedic) and two operational managers during the day. At night, four ambulances are on duty and one rapid response vehicle. Volunteer-crewed first response units are based in Opunake and Urenui.

There are 13 police stations in the region, including three in New Plymouth and others are based in the main towns.

The Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust provides search, rescue and patient transfer missions when required. The [[MBB/Kawasaki BK 117]] is based at its hangar at Taranaki Base Hospital. It serves as a critical service for missions relating to the region's mountain and steep inland hill country and marine areas.